GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Dozens of people needing cataract surgery were flying to Cuba Tuesday for free treatment, Guyana's health minister said, marking a resumption of a program that has helped more than 5,000 Guyanese.
Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said Cuba had suspended the Guyana program because there were not enough patients to fill an airplane after the first year. The first flight in more than six months was due to leave Guyana later Tuesday with about 60 people requiring cataract surgery.
The Cuban government executes the program that is paid for to a large extent by Venezuelan oil money under a program that has helped dozens of Caribbean and Latin American nations. More than 12,000 nationals from Caribbean trade bloc countries, including Jamaica and Grenada, have benefited from the program so far.
Thousands of Cuban doctors and technicians are working in the region and thousands of Caribbean students are at Cuban schools studying medicine, engineering and other disciplines with little costs to governments.
Source: MiamiHerald.Com
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